Commonly mispronounced words
Ok, the whole ricotta thing in the Food & Drink section got me thinking (please, hold your applause)...
Do you ever hear words that are mispronounced on a regular basis, or ones that are just flat out said wrong?
Here is my example of a word said wrong: we have a avian rehabilitation center here in our town. It is the raptor rehabilitation center - commonly known as the raptor center. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people refer to it as the "rapture center". Gaaaaaaaads
An example of a word pronounced incorrectly: zoology. It's not zoo-ology. It's zoh-ology. Well at least my high school biology teacher said so, and I think he's right.
Well.... anybody else have one or two??
p.s., don't mind my spelling..... it's Friday night and, errrmm.....;)
Oh boy, could I go on. Let's cherrypick or I'll be in Home Base all night.
Specific to another hobby of mine: sallet is SAL-et, not sa-LAY.
One I always check menus for: incorrect usage of au jus. If the sandwich is being served with a cup of dipping juice, about the best way to put it in English is "served au jus." It doesn't need any with, as this is already covered by the preposition "au." Au jus is not some kind of two-part noun in any language.
Patent [adj] has a secondary pronunciation of PAY-tent, so I can gag it down, but PAT-ent does nicely for me.
I always put the stress on formidable and preferably on the first syllable and snicker at the ignorami who don't.
And don't forget epizootic -- no part of it rhymes with any part of "zoot suit." We're having one of those now, among domestic fowl in Asia.
Dunno if it's an just an myth, but I've heard the story of an American tourist who came to the UK with the intention of going to Loughborough (pronounced something close to luff-buhrah I believe). Except they called it "Looga-Barooga." Hmm.
Oh, yes. Mispronounced words grate on me.
Realtor is not pronounced "REAL-ah-tor."
Jewelry is not pronounced "jewl-er-ry"
Jalapeno is routinely butchered, even around here where there is no excuse.
Frank Rizzo, Mayor of Philadelphia, once welcomed honored guests from Niggeria to our fair city.
Not a word, but a phrase....
People in the south have a tendancy to butcher words and phrases. One example a high school English teacher showed me was:
Chester drawers is actually "chest of drawers". And, without further delay, here is the thread breaker!
100 Most Often Mispronounced WordsChicago has no frikkin R!!! This guy I work with always talks about hockey and he always says "Chacargo lost...blah blah blah.."
Detroit has no Y! It is not Deetroyit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a teacher who pronounced the word "root" as if it rhymed with "soot", and not "boot".
Unfortunately he was a Unix teacher and so he was constantly saying it, because that's the name of the administrative user under Unix.
Exscape for escape *grinding teeth*
I misprounounce many words, but at least I know the "L" in "salmon" is silent. :headshake
Exscape for escape *grinding teeth*
"Expresso." Eek.
Yew mean that Rushdie feller?
there is at least on mispronounced word in every british documentary. just wait for it.
al-yoo-minnium. puhleez.
axe me a question?
lie-berry. (library)
Irregardless. Expecially. And "swoled." As in, "After Boomer hit me with the baseball bat my arm swoled up reel bad."
Vomick. Twicet.
all ebonic bs.
Twicet
What is that word even supposed to be??
I had a teacher who pronounced the word "root" as if it rhymed with "soot", and not "boot".
Yeah, I was consistently reminded that the majority of my teachers were complete idiots. I had a teacher in fifth grade who argued with the
whole class for ten minutes that the L in salmon was not in fact silent. And I had a teacher in high school who persisted in using the word "irregardless" every single day. And then there was the 7th grade teacher who swore up and down that a line graph was nothing but a bar graph with the tops of the bars connected by a line. But the very earliest disappointment was my first grade teacher, who while teaching us about rounding, was asked whether a 5 was supposed to round up or down, since it was right in the middle. The teacher looked quite seriously at us all and said, "Scientists haven't decided that yet."
But back on topic: my husband says "acrosst" for "across" and "melk" instead of "milk." He also pronounces
melee as "mee-lay" instead of "may-lay." You'd think this wouldn't come up so often, but we have a videogame in the house called "Super Smash Brothers Melee," and now he's got the kids pronouncing it the wrong way too. :rar:
Everyody is missing our most commonly represented screw up.
nucular
Thank you Mr. President.
I had a teacher who pronounced the word "root" as if it rhymed with "soot", and not "boot".
So did my grandparents and most of their friends including a family named Root. :D
:D Brianna hit the nail on the head..."ebonics"...sheesh. That is just a loose acronym for "Too-lazy-to-enunciate-clearly". The prof who studied that should be stripped of his degree. If Ebonics is actually a valid dialect or language, then Eredneckonics and Ehickonics pre-dated it by 150 years LOL.
Typical North Carolina mistakes which drove me up the wall when I was in school were "chimbley" instead of chimney, and "bum" instead of bomb. I always wondered at what point somebody would realize that the National Anthem does not have "the bums bursting in air". It seems incomprehensible that somebody would actually WRITE the wrong word, but plainly they did not know the actual word they were speaking.
And speaking of this ebonics BS, raise your hand if you have not gritted your teeth to powder everytime a black person being interviewed says "ax" instead of "asked"?
Clodfobble--twiceT is not once, but twice! Eg: "Boomer done hit me with that thar baseball bat not onceT but twiceT!" The mountain folk around here put a "t" on the end of once and twice. Say it with me--"twice-T".
Now, doesn't that feel all down-homey? :)
If Ebonics is actually a valid dialect or language, then Eredneckonics and Ehickonics pre-dated it by 150 years LOL.
Um, both of those
are dialects, though they probably have more genteel names. I'm not sure what valid means in this context.
Though I don't see any need to teach any of them in schools.
Ebonics, redneckonics, etc, are valid dialects, but the trick is to not tolerate their intrusion into into prevelant usage. They are a study of cultural anthropology, not a language to be taught as an acceptable replacement for english.
The one word thats always mispronounced that drives me Bloody batty is
Schedule pronounced "Skedule" there's no fukin' K in there........ :D
Oh, yes. Mispronounced words grate on me.
...Jewelry is not pronounced "jewl-er-ry"...
Unless you spell it properly - jewellery :right: ...
one ive noticed (because i always use to do it) but no one else seems to is "obvious" just listen to people and youll hear them say OD-vious.
aluminium is NOT a-loo-min-num as americans think it is. notice the "nium" at the end? its not "num"
Unless you spell it properly - jewellery
But even then, don't you guys pronounce it "jew-ELL-er-ree?"
aluminium is NOT a-loo-min-num as americans think it is. notice the "nium" at the end? its not "num"
From
here. In 1807, Davy proposed the name alumium for the metal, undiscovered at that time, and later agreed to change it to aluminum. Shortly thereafter, the name aluminium was adopted to conform with the "ium" ending of most elements, and this spelling is now in use elsewhere in the world. Aluminium was also the accepted spelling in the U.S. until 1925, at which time the American Chemical Society officially decided to use the name aluminum thereafter in their publications.
It's num. :p
from here
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990, but three years later recognised aluminum as an acceptable variant. Hence their periodic table includes both, but places aluminium first [5]. IUPAC officially prefers the use of aluminium in its internal publications, although several IUPAC publications use the spelling aluminum.[6] Nevertheless the "ium" spelling has the advantage that the non-English-speaking world prefers the -ium spelling: aluminium is the name used in French and German, and identical or similar forms are used in many other languages. As the non-English speaking world has more people, the forms used in languages other than English are one of the reasons IUPAC chose to officially prefer aluminium over aluminum.
its NIUM but NUM is acceptable ;)
snip~~aluminium is the name used in French~~snip
Reason enough to stick with num. :lol:
I was always taught that Vitae (in Curriculum Vitae) was correctly pronounced "Vy-Tee". I have heard other people say "Vee-Ty" so often now that I am beginning to doubt my memory and stick to saying CV.
Re: jewellery/ jewelry. Most common pronounciation I've heard is "JEWL-ry", although I have heard "JEWL-uh-ry" & accepted it as correct. "Jew-ELL-er-ree"? No, never :)
I had a History teacher who used to say "Commonist" instead of "Communist", which drove me crazy - we were studying the Russian Revolution so it came up quite often. And I was 15 (not the most tolerant age).
My biggest frustration is "pacific" instead of "specific". Surprisingly common.
There's a dispersed section of English who substitute 'g' with 'k' on certain words, such as 'somethink, 'nothink' and 'anythink' I met someone called
Kevin who did this - nice chap otherwise....
Then, of course there's the way we can totally demolish the pronunciation of some words, especially the names of places and peoples' names:
Chalmondley - is pronounced Chummley
Beauchamp Place is pronounced Beecham Place
Beauvoir is pronounced Beaver (reminds me of a joke - maybe not now, though)
I'm sure there's more....
Of course - what about those '-ough' words:
As the woodsman thought: 'I've had enough of sawing through these boughs' - visitors to our shores just don't stand a chance!
If you're going to bring proper nouns into it how about
Caius College, Cambridge (Keys)
Magdalen College, Oxford (Maudlin)
Not that I'd judge anyone to be ignorant for pronouncing these incorrectly. Unless they lived in either city.
The word: February
The problem: Feb-yoo-airy
*sigh*
USAGE NOTE Although the variant pronunciation ( fĕb'yū-ĕr'ē ) is often censured because it doesn't reflect the spelling of the word, it is quite common in educated speech and is generally considered acceptable. The loss of the first r in this pronunciation can be accounted for by the phonological process known as dissimilation, by which similar sounds in a word tend to become less similar. In the case of February, the loss of the first r is also owing to the influence of January, which has only one r.
i was born in Feb. and I say "Febuary" because, #1) whoever named it that obviously meant FebUary, to rhyme with January, #2) people look at you funny when you do say the extra R, and, most importantly, #3) saying "FebRUary" sounds gay.
:)
...#2) people look at you funny when you do say the extra R, ...
:)
That explains some things...Not
everything, but some things...
i was born in Feb. and I say "Febuary" because, #1) whoever named it that obviously meant FebUary, to rhyme with January, #2) people look at you funny when you do say the extra R, and, most importantly, #3) saying "FebRUary" sounds gay.
:)
So long as you talk with a lisp you should get away with it, either way
I think I'm being picked on.
How could you possibly think such a thing???
(your turn, BigV)
Oh I thought of another one.
Association.
It's not aso-she-ashion.
And with the salmon thing. Living in salmon central up here, I can say that it is true that the L in salmon is silent, however it is still present. It sounds silly when someone pronounces it sammin. When it's pronounced correctly, you don't say the L, but it does effect the way it comes out.
Hard to explain.... but you all are smart enough to know what I mean, right?
I think Brianna has bravely attempted to "catch a bullet" for me on two recent occasions. In both cases, I was referring to myself, and Brianna has wondered aloud if I was picking on her. I speak only for myself, but clearly: no.
Of course - what about those '-ough' words:
and then we could be entering a dry spell...
drought
is it:
drowt or
drowth?
My daughter is in first grade, and has a spelling test each week. So far, she has had an easy time of it, because all the words she has studied each week follow rules. Once you learn the rule, you know how to spell them. Well, last week, she had to study the long O words. "OW" "OA" and "O" with an "E" at the end. As she was struggling over the word list, she was looking to me to explain it. I found myself coming up empty, and telling her she just has to memorize the stupid words. She had a hard time of it. I mean really, why are the long O's in "coach" "slow" and "froze" all spelled differently? Why? Just because. That's why. What a stupid system.
Just come up with one rule already! How about "O" followed by a silent "E"?
"coach" could be "coche"
"slow" could be "sloe"
"froze" could stay the same
Much simpler. Maybe more immigrants would learn English.
Languages aren't designed. They evolve. English is a bit of Old English, some French, and some German. And smaller bits of a lot of other languages. English is a rather promiscuous language.
Read The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. It covers all that and is an entertaining read as well. In it you'll find the bit of trivia that the Irish (or was it the Scotch) have a word that means the itch you get in your upper lip just before taking a drink of whiskey.
The one word thats always mispronounced that drives me Bloody batty is
Schedule pronounced "Skedule" there's no fukin' K in there........ :D
It's got the same fucking K in it that School does.
I think the War of Independence was fought in part so that we didn't have to talk and spell funny over here.
I was always taught that Vitae (in Curriculum Vitae) was correctly pronounced "Vy-Tee". I have heard other people say "Vee-Ty" so often now that I am beginning to doubt my memory and stick to saying CV.
Screw all that ... when did it stop being a resume? Is it related to the pay rate for the job somehow? Like up to $10/hr you just fill out an application, $10-30/hr you provide a resume, and $30 and over/hr you have to give your CV?
I think it is more related to the intended audience. CV seems targeted more towards an academic field, and a resume seems more...commercial.
or not...
My husband has a CV. For him, it's not that you are out looking for a job per se, it's that his credentials need to be available for potential clients to see.
A resume is for when you are going to approch a potential employer and ask them "Is this enough for you to hire me?"
A CV is for when you want the person to come to you and say "you have all of the qualifications we need for this situation. Can we hire you?"
He's an expert witness, so clients come to him instead of the other way around.
He's a Forensic Scientist. :skull:
Vitae = "vye-tay". Should drive any Latin scholar bat-tay.
And aluminum has but one I.
School and Schedule each have a 'k', like the Skook'll river.
And English didn't evolve. Like the Borg, it assimilated, often by force.
He's a Forensic Scientist. :skull:
You're married to a CSI guy? that is just too cool.
He's a Forensic Scientist. :skull:
Cool. Is there a large demand for his 'spert-ness in Alaska or is it a case of with his credentials he can live anywhere he wants? :confused:
Not exactly mispronounced, but it still chaps my ass: irregardless. Please, make it stop!
Wolf;
He's not exactly a CSI guy - that's a crime scene tech, which is different. He's a generalist, so for the most part he reviews cases and reconstructs the crime, then identifies what areas or items need further review by specialists.
Basically he's the cleanup guy. He gets called in when a case is so messed up or out of control that they need someone to come in and tell them which way to go.
He does the same thing at home...... it's a bit annoying at times!
xoBruce;
He can live anywhere he wants! ;)
There is an advantage to living on a remote island when you are working on unsolved cases involving violent crime.
When he was living in California he had a hard time sleeping!
We certainly have some interesting dinner conversations at our house
length,
width,
and (not)
heighth
fucking hillbillies.
Basically he's the cleanup guy. He gets called in when a case is so messed up or out of control that they need someone to come in and tell them which way to go.
Like Harvey Keitel?
Sure - I bet he'd like that comparison. ;)
It's got the same fucking K in it that School does.
I think the War of Independence was fought in part so that we didn't have to talk and spell funny over here.
When I was at school,it was pronounced shed-ule,I would have got a slap from my english teacher if it was pronounced sked-ule ...... :D
My friends in Australia pronounce schedule as shed-ule, and resume as resh-youmay. It always made me laugh.
We were in Australia at the same time as our friends, and the wife's name is Bona. Our Australian friend's wife kept pronouncing it Boner..... hilarious...
China- Chiner, please explain.
Missourah, Hawaiiah
Illinoise
I had a teacher that said pubertree instead of puberty. Sorta creeped me out.
Warshington
Oh, and tourists that can't pronounce local stuff (I know, it's not their fault).
Our town's native (mostly Tlinget & Haida) community has left us with some interesting words/ phrases & place names, and it really befuddles the tourists & newcomers.
My Latin teacher in junior high school frequently made references to DC residents saying "Warshington", which weirded me out a bit, since I've lived there my whole life and never heard it.
One would think that a town pronounce "Gloster" would be spelled that way right?
Not...
Gloucester
Ok so how do you all say Worcestershire sauce?
My dad says it wrong on purpose. He calls it woosh-de-shire sauce (he also pronounces soy sauce as sooey sauce). He knows it's incorrect, but in some warped way he thinks its funny.
I've always wondered if it was pronounced Wohr-chester-shire sauce.
Woostershire, like a dog woof.
I do that, I mispronouce on purpose because in some warped way I think it's funny. Is that bad? I can't tell.
I do that, I mispronouce on purpose because in some warped way I think it's funny. Is that bad? I can't tell.
Nope it's an age thing,your humour gland is evolving, into "Dad Humour"
Perfectly normal....... :D
Oh my god - you mean my dad has actually been saying it right all this time??
No. Woos-ter-shear not woosh-de-shire. ;)
Ah. There we have it.
I am going to sound so damn smart at Thanksgiving!!!
I do that, I mispronouce on purpose because in some warped way I think it's funny. Is that bad? I can't tell.
I have to raise a hand at the idea of deliberate mispronounciation being funny, especially within families. Perhaps its because MY Dad did it when I was a child....?
He would pretend to mix up the words Recipe and Receipt. Which I do now sometimes, then realise the humour in childhood jokes doesn't survive an explanation to work colleagues :neutral:
Don't know about that, but I occasionally have a brain malfunction and use totally the wrong word - like when I referred to the earth's continents resting on teutonic plates (I think those are the ones made by Meissen or Villeroy and Boch!)
Typical North Carolina mistakes which drove me up the wall when I was in school were "chimbley" instead of chimney, and "bum" instead of bomb. I always wondered at what point somebody would realize that the National Anthem does not have "the bums bursting in air".
That reminds me of my favorite scene from "Revenge of the Pink Panther".
[color=black]Clouseau:[/color] Special delivery - a bomb
[pronounced "beaumbe"]
Clouseau: ! Were you expecting one?
My favorite was always "The organ grinder and his minkee."
Don't know about that, but I occasionally have a brain malfunction and use totally the wrong word - like when I referred to the earth's continents resting on teutonic plates (I think those are the ones made by Meissen or Villeroy and Boch!)
I always called those brain farts... or brain fade if it happens over a period of time.
Don't know about that, but I occasionally have a brain malfunction and use totally the wrong word - like when I referred to the earth's continents resting on teutonic plates (I think those are the ones made by Meissen or Villeroy and Boch!)
I remember a conversation with a friend of mine, shortly after he'd had a stroke, and about a week before he suddenly passed away. We were talking about our favorite pastries and he was waxing elephant about these hot cross buns which "were filled with ravens..."
It made perfect sense to me. At a distance ravens look like raisins, especially if there is snow on the ground.
I was sad however to remember that was my last conversation with him, but happy that it was about pastires, something we both loved and connected over. But then sad again that we didn't make the chance to sit down and eat some raven infested buns. But then happy, well you get the idea.
My favorite was always "The organ grinder and his minkee."
"Do you 'ave a lee–zahnce for zat minkee?"
I just heard another one just now that I had forgotton about.
Expresso.
It's Espresso folks. There's no X in there.
Let's talk about ASTERIX, *** the symbol and not the comic strip. We usually hear ASTERISK. I'm not really sure which is correct anymore, but no matter which version I use, the momster will jump at me to say it is the opposite one. Along the same line there is TAMERISK, the saltcedar tree which I remember so fondly from rafting on the Southwestern rivers. Everybody wants to call it TAMERIX. Using X's seems to be a problem for Americans.
Since unix, I've just called it "star".
Tamarisk.
They're so pretty in the fall, but a pest in the west.
My favorite was always "The organ grinder and his minkee."
Wolf, thank you for clearing up something which has always puzzled me, namely why my sister named one of her cats Minkee. Until now I never knew. Her husband is a Brit :o
Ok here's something else...... it's not a mispronouncement per se, but it's still irritating.
It drives me nuts when people feel this need to pronounce a particular word with a different accent.
Ms white bread suddenly becomes Italian when she says the word risotto, or becomes Greek when she says feta cheese.
It's like they think it makes them sound smarter or more worldly, when in fact it makes me cringe and think "what a dork". It seems that women do it more than men - especially the trilling of the letter r in words.
I see it all the time on the cooking shows.
and NPR. Of course they never say Carnegie with a proper Scottish brogue.
Ok here's something else...... it's not a mispronouncement per se, but it's still irritating.
It drives me nuts when people feel this need to pronounce a particular word with a different accent.
Ms white bread suddenly becomes Italian when she says the word risotto, or becomes Greek when she says feta cheese.
It's like they think it makes them sound smarter or more worldly, when in fact it makes me cringe and think "what a dork". It seems that women do it more than men - especially the trilling of the letter r in words.
I see it all the time on the cooking shows.
Cunning linguists? (mispronounced?)
Cunning linguists? (mispronounced?)
Or Master debators?
Like when some hip-hop, trash-talking, "can I axe yew..." saying ebonics-loving moron then gets all Right and Proper and says Aunt like "Ahhhh-unt".
I hate that.
How about mixed metaphors - one guy in our office a few years back used to say quite regularly that he would keep his ear to the grindstone to see if anything cropped up....
I knew someone who claimed to have "eagle ears" meaning he had good hearing...
How about mixed metaphors - one guy in our office a few years back used to say quite regularly that he would keep his ear to the grindstone to see if anything cropped up....
From what I see here it sounds like you should start a malaprop thread...
I knew someone who claimed to have "eagle ears" meaning he had good hearing...
I've heard that one too :lol: Then he followed it up with "...good eye - vision..." I'm still scratching my head.
And speaking of this ebonics BS, raise your hand if you have not gritted your teeth to powder everytime a black person being interviewed says "ax" instead of "asked"?
Amen to that!!!
I dated a girl who pronounced 'lightning' (2 syllables, weather phenomenon) as 'lightninin' (3 syllables). I finally sat down with her and made her sound out the 2 syllables separately, which she did fine. Put em together, though, and the magical 3rd "in" gets attached. She had a master's degree, but refused to pronounce it right, because her daddy said it that way.
I fed her to hogs.
With a side of "pasghetti".
Dad and mom went to "hy-WY-ah" and whilst attending a luau, heard some pretty GIT-tar music.
Dad also calls the German car manufacturer "mar-say-deez". The other is "Volswagon"
The British one is Jagwire.
Lightning is a noun. Lightningin' is a verb. ;)
Question;
A Vegan, as in non-meateater. Is it pronounced Vej-en or Veg-en?
Question;
A Vegan, as in non-meateater. Is it pronounced Vej-en or Veg-en?
Just to make it more awkward - over here you hear people saying both Vay-gan and Vee-gan....
I have only heard vee-gen, with the "g" as in "get".
The British one is Jagwire.
I was shocked the first time I heard a commercial for Jaguar. Evidently the British think there are three syllables in there. Even though I'm an Anglophile and tend to overdo most things, I can't bring myself to pronounce it that way.
I did once use the English spelling for "colour" in a spelling test. I knew it would be counted incorrect, but this was a sophomore high school class and I had to do something to entertain myself.
How is Jaguar pronounced in the States then? Assume its Jag-waar. That sounds funny to me :lol:
I always smile when I hear the American pronunciation of "Caribbean" - I know its not wrong, its just different (that could apply to me sometimes!) It's still funny to my ears. For the record we say "Carry-BEE-ann"
How is Jaguar pronounced in the States then? Assume its Jag-waar. That sounds funny to me :lol:
I always smile when I hear the American pronunciation of "Caribbean" - I know its not wrong, its just different (that could apply to me sometimes!) It's still funny to my ears. For the record we say "Carry-BEE-ann"
My geminian split personality comes into play with tis one - at home I say as you have written, but at work, in shipping world, say 'caribb-e-an (or Caribbs for short!)
People round here call a Jag-waar this: "One of them there ferr-in cars." :lol:
The only reason I know to say Jag-U-ahr is because of Pink Floyd.
Thing is, 'jaguar' isn't an English word -- it's Portuguese, and it's pronounced "yag-war" with a kind of hhh sound on the y. So in this case at least, the Americanized version is closer to the correct pronunciation than the Brit version is.
poor UG, he was trying to sound to bright, then he got the plural of ignoramus wrong.
Hearing someone say paradigm as para-digm made me laugh out loud, tertiary as ter-ed-it-ory just worried me.
personally i'm jag-u-ar and if the portuguese have a problem with it they can send a fleet.
Hearing someone say paradigm as para-digm made me laugh out loud
Was it someone who had only read the word before? In which case they have my sympathy - I know I've come out with some of these myself before.
Distantly related - I am still wary of the word oxymoron, after our cruel English lecturer told us the correct pronunciation was "ock-ZIM-erron". Which lets face it, makes as much sense as the way you pronouce hyperbole. I will still avoid saying it - the correct pronunciation sounds wrong to me.
personally i'm jag-u-ar and if the portuguese have a problem with it they can send a fleet.
A
Fleet? :eek:
Or maybe a fleet of man-o-wars (
men-o-war?).
Sundae Girl - I am with you on the reading vs. hearing it spoken issue.
I remember a particular incident in 5th grade. We all had to take turns reading out of a book that the teacher picked for the day. I was (am) so incredibly shy - especially about public speaking, so naturally my deepest fear was that the teacher would call on me to read out loud. As my classmates would read their section, I would pre-read the next one just in case I got picked.
I had a "thank god" moment when the section I thought I had mastered was assigned to another kid... He read it, and he said a word that made me look back down at my own book and think "what? "
For some reason I saw the word debris (day-brees) as a word that should be pronounced derbis (der-bis).
Talk about a sweaty palms
misogynist
Sorry for departing from the theme, I just had to share the laugh!
For some reason I saw the word debris (day-brees) as a word that should be pronounced derbis (der-bis)
That's okay, your classmate got it wrong too. It's pronounced
deh-bree.
Day-brees is the plural. It's spelled the same.
[SIZE=1]im a liar[/SIZE]
One of my friend's from high school used to speak about how horrified she was when her third or fourth grade teacher insisted on correcting her pronounciation of "anemone."
No matter how much my friend protested, the teacher made her say it Annie-moans.
A gifted program kid, my friend was never again certain about the ability of teachers to teach from that moment forward.
A gifted program kid, my friend was never again certain about the ability of teachers to teach from that moment forward.
Good for her!
"samwich" or "sangwich" drive me nuts. (From the same folks who bring is "axe yew a keshun" and other delightful ebonic tidbits.)
My mom adds letters, like Jerry Steinfeld, and Ski-doo.
Then there's one of my personal favorites" "Whether or not." No. It's just plain "whether." There's no "or not" about it. Right up there with Eggspecially in my book.
My husband has a few good ones that he uses frequently, but I have purposely blocked them out of my English-degree maniacally grammar oriented mind. If the self inflicted cloud lifts, I'll bring them to this fun little feast of a table.
Thanks for trying to save me UT...
Clodfobble - you know, the funny thing is that after seeing your reply I said the word debris (mentally of course..... I never talk to myself), and it fit better with the way you described it.
Oh god. I am wrong in telling you all how I was wrong! Jezzus I am such a tard.
My mom adds letters, like Jerry Steinfeld, and Ski-doo.
Where's the extra letter in Ski-Doo? Or is she talking about personal watercraft instead of snowmobiles, and she means Sea-Doo?
My Dad is dyslexic, so I haven't included some of his classics as it's not fair..... But Michelle Pettifer (Pfeiffer) made me laugh.
Sandwich is often pronounced Samwitch here. I can hold my hand up to it myself (have sat here saying it repeatedly under my breath - I think my colleagues are looking up Witchfinder General on Yell.Com)
Ah yes, dyslexia pops up in my family quite a bit. My sister used to write her friend Toby's name as ybot, so here it is 20 years later and I still call him ybot. It sounds like eebot.
I'm not sure how common the phrase "Wolf it down" is, but even if you haven't heard it before you will agree it creates a clear mental image of the way someone is eating.
Today I heard someone say "Woof it down". Not only is ait wrong but it's stupid!
The worst thing is the little voices inside my head seem to like it and it's been circulating all day. Grrrrrrr - and I mean that literally.
Woof it down and wolf it down, seems to be pretty interchangable around here. :confused:
This isn't a mispronounced word, but a mangled turn of phrase. I used to work for a very sweet woman who was in all ways refined, correct, and educated. Cept fer one thing. You know the phrase "Six of one, half dozen of the other"? It means "It doesn't matter, it's all the same to me." She said it as, "Half of six, a dozen of the other" and COULD NOT be convinced of the correct version.
Thought of a couple more this evening.
Species. Its not spee-shees. Its spee-sees. Also when people sign a card or type in an email "congrads". There is no D in congratulations.
Shoooot, I had a couple more, but I've lost them.
Axe me later.
There is no D in congratulations.
There is if you just barely missed flunking out before graduation.
Woof it down and wolf it down, seems to be pretty interchangable around here. :confused:
I've only heard it a couple of times... perhaps it makes more sense with repetition. It still seems wrong to me - woof is a sound, made while exhaling. How can it apply to the process of ingestion?
Woof it down and wolf it down, seems to be pretty interchangable around here.
I've known many people who in general pronounced the word "wolf" without the L. It may be that if they wrote it down you'd see they at least knew the correct word to use, even if they couldn't say it. :)
Do you ever mispronounce words to purposely irritate your foreign friends? I do. One of my French friends hates it when Americans pronounce French words incorrectly. One day we were having a party and she was making crepes. I made sure to have a reason to say croissant, but I pronounced it "croy-SANT" just to see what she would do. She screamed,"CWASOOOO!!!" and then threw a crepe at me. Then I said, "Hey! Quit throwing creaps at me!" She did refrain from throwing the skillet at me.
Ah, another reason not to befriend the French!
Welcome, Nunya!
Jaguar, my very silly dear easily patronized fellow, if you're going to be so ignorant of Latin that even I can do it better than you can, what is to be done with you?
Ignorami if I want it that way. If it's nonstandard, well, it's nonstandard, with all the caveats appertaining thereunto.
You're trying too hard, kid.
On a related topic, I would like to express my frustration with the substitution of two similar words, not just in speech but in writing.
I have seen at least two different posts by two allegedly different Cellar users in which the word 'loose' is substituted for the word 'lose'.
While not of earth shattering significance, this still upsets me.
I have noticed the tendency to switch around homophones. For example, I have seen people substitute "your" for the contraction "you're" a lot, as in "I think your going too far." I have grown to accept this as a natural mutation of the English language.
In the case of loose and lose, the words do not even sound the same when pronounced correctly. They are not homonyms, synonyms, antonyms, or any other kind of -nym. They have no relationship to each other except for sharing a subset of letters in the same order.
I realize that if this is the most troubling thing I have seen recently, then I am leading a charmed life, but for some reason it annoys me. One hope for the Internet is that it would return the world to the age of letter writing, when 'a stern letter to the Times' and the keeping of journals left a historical record of the thoughts of generations.
Unfortunately, the sloppiness people use in speech has crossed over into writing. I am not talking about typos, or even using slang like typo instead of typographical error. I am not even talking about poor sentence structure with concepts like dangling participles. Everyone breaks those, including a huge number of authors. My second grade English teacher would be appalled at the structure of most of my posts.
If it turns out that the people who are doing this are ESL, than I am very sorry that I brought this up. If I was in a forum writing in Spanish and I substituted perro for pero and someone ranted about it, I could honestly say I was trying my best.
Still I figure I should bring it up before it ends up on a resume or application letter.
Now that I think about it, I might have ranted about this a few years ago about the same two words. It might be time to search the Cellar archives.
Hang lose, Rich......you've nothing to loose. :blush:
You'd better hope so, especially dogs.
You'd better hope so, especially dogs.
I see you found the
old post. Well, maybe it's not the end of civilization and just one guy using three different Cellar accounts.
Of course, back in the old days, mistakes like that could get you a switching from the schoolmistress, with her hair in a tight bun....and her cheeks all flushed and......
Today, I signed a commitment warrant for a woman who wrote that her son had "tryed to cute my throuathe."
I finally figured it out, and her son really was crazy, but the whole idea of her being barely able to express herself in written English was more frightening than her son's behavior.
Today, I signed a commitment warrant for a woman who wrote that her son had "tryed to cute my throuathe."
I finally figured it out, and her son really was crazy, but the whole idea of her being barely able to express herself in written English was more frightening than her son's behavior.
Well, another explanation would be that the woman was 300 years old. In the 1700's there were almost no dictionaries and words legitimately had different spellings.
I visited Franklin's Post Office and exhibit and reading the samples of writing there required some translation.
I honestly don't think this lady was having a purfuit of happineff moment.
I honestly don't think this lady was having a purfuit of happineff moment.
The whole f/s thing made it tough to read some of the manuscripts there. Think about how tough it must have been visiting a brothel back then and trying to figure out exactly what they were offering on the price list for 5 shillings.
I honestly don't think this lady was having a purfuit of happineff moment.
:rotflol:
I always loved that Stan Freberg bit, but the opportunities to use it in conversation are few and far between, even for me.
Wolf;
He's not exactly a CSI guy - that's a crime scene tech, which is different. He's a generalist, so for the most part he reviews cases and reconstructs the crime, then identifies what areas or items need further review by specialists.
Basically he's the cleanup guy. He gets called in when a case is so messed up or out of control that they need someone to come in and tell them which way to go.
He does the same thing at home...... it's a bit annoying at times!
We certainly have some interesting dinner conversations at our house
I thought that he was in that company...
SCENE CLEAN - with their mascot - The Grim Sweeper.
Real company.
Cleans up murder, suicide, accident, ect. scenes.
Better than having the family pick pieces of brain off the wall.
-----------
Back to the origin of the thread, I used to work in a hardware store, and I got the entire staff pronouncing the word as -
"Al-u-min-i-um". 5 separate sounds.
It was great watching the purchasing agent place an order.
-----------
"Massive two tits." Massachusetts.
But, of course, "I won't cum in your mouth" is often mispronounced as "Oops".
I know someone who does the crime scene clean up gig in one of the Carolinas. There's a lot of money in that.
On a related topic, I would like to express my frustration with the substitution of two similar words, not just in speech but in writing.
...
I hate when people say try "and" do something. You try "
to" do something, not try "and".
How do you pronounce a sentence like, "It isn't going to matter one way or the other?"
I'm horrible about diction in some cases -- when I say that, it sounds like "Iddingonma'er one wayathothr".
If I try to pronounce it correctly, I don't like the way all the "s" and "th" sounds feel in my mouth -- it makes my teeth itch.
Neuroses, I've got a few.
How do you pronounce a sentence like, "It isn't going to matter one way or the other?"
I've never been sure if the expression is "It isn't going to matter one way or the other?" or "It isn't going to matter one way or another?". I'm not even sure there is a difference meaning between the two, except that maybe the first implies that there are only two 'ways' and the second implies that there are 'more than one'.
The question mark is probably wrong, however, if it is a statement. However, according to
this link, it is grammatically correct to place a question mark on an interrogative statement.
Sometimes, an interrogative statement may be followed by a period instead of a question mark. A writer's choice of end mark is based upon both meaning, i.e., the main idea expressed by the sentence, and also upon emotional content. Look at some examples below.
You liked the movie. --or-- You liked the movie?
How about that guy. --or-- How about that guy?
When a sentence is only mildly interrogative, as in the examples above, either a question mark or a period is grammatically appropriate. A writer, by his or her choice of end mark, has the ability to affect the sense of the sentence. One test for an appropriate end mark is to read the sentence aloud. Does the inflection of your voice rise or fall? If it rises, the sentence should probably end with a question mark; if it falls, a period is perhaps the better choice.
This goes to show that -
A) I fact check before posting on the Cellar.
B) Even guys with English degrees forget or never bothered learning all of the rules.
C) The first rule of 'proper English grammer' is that there are too many exceptions to rules. In the end, punctation is more about conveying inflection or pace than applying strict structure.
E. E. Cummings was right.
I have trouble when speaking i think it comes from my father who was a stutterer.
If i have to say two words together sometimes i get the second letter of the second word mixed into the second letter of the first word. Its very frusterating.
Examples:
"Forest Floor" becomes "Florest Floor"
"Sylvester Stallone" becomes "Stylvester Stalone"
And mishandled homonyms are something RichLevy and I agree on: solecisms are bad. Native English speakers do not have an excuse for mistaking your for you're, nor to and too [make yore]. I remember a real groaner of a bit of substandard writing I saw on a little sign in a military building I worked in at Misawa Air Base: "you'r" the poor SOB wrote. :thepain3: Charles Strunk and E.B. White are spinning in their graves... end for end.
Loose/Lose aren't even homonyms. Perhaps the explanation is that "loose" is really a typo?
------
Don't get me started on the ignoramuses who don't decline their pronouns as English should, and in all seeming innocence deliver themselves of phrases like "between her and I" -- in real English, pronouns have a predicate case, an objective form, dammit! "Wanna be perfect, like I?" Where were these people hiding during English class?
The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy has some good grammar lessons, though unfortunately sales are currently suspended. Here's the
most famous.
And a new one,
for Canadians!
Yeah, Urbane Guerilla, Jaguar was right....since ignoramus wasn't a Latin 2nd declension masculine noun with the -us ending, it doesn't make sense that the plural would be ignorami....it's form the verb ignorare, and its ending is -mus, the 1st person plural. So the plural is ignoramuses.
Wecome to the Cellar, Frenchie. :D
I have no place in this thread.:bolt:
Not a mispronounced word. Not words... and never will be
I instantly lose respect and think less of the intellegence of those who use the non-words:
irregardless & proactive.
There is a difference between British and Trans-Atlantic, British is not necessarily "right", Trans is also correct.
Oh and on the actual subject of the board, this isn't a commonly mispronounced word (I hope), but once I heard someone pronounce icicle as "iss-ickle"...I nearly gagged
I once mispronounced "Yes, I love you too, dear" by saying "Would you move your ass? I can't see the TV!"
They sound so similar............
proactive is a word. It's in the dictionary. It might be a modern addition, but language is constantly developing and new words being added all the time.
The way 'herb' is commonly mispronounced 'erb with emphasis on the fact of the dropped aitch, as though the speaker is somehow trying to make a point.
The word then emerges as Urb.... Can anyone explain it?
That's just the way it's pronounced in some places I think. That's one of the problems with pronunciation, particularly in a language like English. Regional accents and dialects which have evolved separately mean that people from one part of the English speaking world may well pronounce things entirely differently to someone else from a different place.
Some words are mispronounced because the speaker has only seen the word printed rather than having heard it spoken, but with something like 'herb' I doubt that's the case.
I believe sounding the 'h' in herb is a British pronunciation, but even within Britian it varies.
Ha. Okay I went searching:
Herb
The word herb, which can be pronounced with or without the (h), is one of a number of words borrowed into English from French. The (h) sound had been lost in Latin and was not pronounced in French or the other Romance languages, which are descended from Latin, although it was retained in the spelling of some words. In both Old and Middle English, however, h was generally pronounced, as in the native English words happy and hot. Through the influence of spelling, then, the h came to be pronounced in most words borrowed from French, such as haste and hostel. In a few other words borrowed from French the h has remained silent, as in honor, honest, hour, and heir. And in another small group of French loan words, including herb, humble, human, and humor, the h may or may not be pronounced depending on the dialect of English. In British English, herb and its derivatives, such as herbaceous, herbal, herbicide, and herbivore, are pronounced with h. In American English, herb and herbal are more often pronounced without the h, while the opposite is true of herbaceous, herbicide, and herbivore, which are more often pronounced with the h.
Dana that's all fab and not a systemic explanation I have seen before, but imediately reminded me of "'umble, very very 'umble" but at this moment the Dickens character escapes me ... Heap? Uriah Heap...? Or 'eap.
My cockney late husband used to talk about 'ammerin' hup the hautobahn' on his return from a football match somewhere in the old West Germany, when all of the aitches were transposed - shifted abaht
Down here in the West its a whole different ball-game, as is the case for -I guess- all of the UK Cellarites. Vive la difference, it all adds colour and variety.
My condolences by the way on the loss of your friend. I am playing catch up as usual.
Well, tbh, I think that all'n'all this thread has shown that all UK residents are incapable of mis-prouncitation..... ( with the notable exception of those born in Essex)......
Not a mispro, but the American Dialect Society, which keeps an eye on the evolution of the language, voted the verb "to Pluto" as their je-ne-sais-quoi ineffable word of the year. It means to demote or devalue someone or something. It won out over such runners-up as "climate canary," an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon, and "murse" for a man's purse, and "flog" for a fake blog. "Macaca" gets a definition: an American citizen treated like an alien.
One word that I hear mispronounced on telly all the time is car-A-mel. So many shows of US origin have people prounouncing it as carmel.
What happened to the A?
And to finish up my gripe list: Army spokesmen who invariably pronounce "cache" as if it were "cachet." Even Westerners innocent of French who live in places like the Cache La Poudre river valley (uphill from Fort Collins, if you're curious) in northern Colorado know better.
Caramel has all three syllables when I say it.
Carmel is a town in California. They had Clint Eastwood for a mayor for a term some years back. He repealed a town ordinance against consuming ice cream in the streets and another against use of frisbees in city parks. And verily there was much rejoicing.
Good for him! Everyone should be allowed to dribble sloppy icecream in the streets!
Ahhh.....That's why I've heard of Carmel ! Thanks bruce.
One word that I hear mispronounced on telly all the time is car-A-mel. So many shows of US origin have people prounouncing it as carmel.
What happened to the A?
It's unvoiced.
We say it right.
Honest.
Is that like that second syllable in Terror?
Is that like that second syllable in Terror?
You think terror is bad, you should hear mirror and squirrel! :lol: I can say most things in a reasonable American way now if need be, but those two just make me sound like Kryten and his "Smeeeee..."
Do like Boris Badenov, and go "Squrl."
Do like Boris Badenov, and go "Squrl."
I try....
I'm very trying.
Do like Boris Badenov, and go "Squrl."
We have a childrens book about animals with pronounciatian guides..
Squirrel-> Skwirl :sniff:
May I introduce you to the other half :wstupid:
(I coudn't find a smiley that says I'm with sexpot, honest)
Out of my mouth, it's "skwir'l" -- the last vowel is very indefinite but some kind of voiced grunt is always there. Squirrelly gives all the vowels a better chance to declare themselves.
Squirrelly gives all the vowels a better chance to declare themselves.
Is that what my friends are trying to say when I hear "Squirly"? I always thought it must be a cross between queer and swirly. Which most definitely fits with the kids they were describing.
(Most) Brits pronounce Squirrel "Skwi-rull" -almost rhymes with "pit bull".
Hello Beest - nice to meet you!
For us it evoked (c. 1970) less queerness, save in an older sense, than crazy scatterbrainedness with the thoughts in the head zipping about randomly. And there was the nuts connection, too.
remuneration versus renumeration. Drives me crazy. I most frequently hear renumeration, in the context of money / payment. Wrong.
remuneration versus renumeration. Drives me crazy. I most frequently hear renumeration, in the context of money / payment. Wrong.
I don't think I have ever used the word renumeration in conversation - but I did think it meant payment. The Cellar has proved itself worth visiting yet again!
Please let me be clear: in the context of payment the proper word is reMUNeration. Your post (I hope, I think) is saying you have been subjected to the same wrong usage.
is renumeration a word?
remuneration relates to payment for service
renumeration would be recounting something, but you can't stick "re" in front of every verb.
Please let me be clear: in the context of payment the proper word is reMUNeration. Your post (I hope, I think) is saying you have been subjected to the same wrong usage.
Aye. And it's pure luck that I haven't made this mistake myself.
"perogative" :smack:
People. It's
prerogative despite what Britney Spears says.
"perogative" :smack:
People. It's prerogative despite what Britney Spears says.
Google says;
perogative: 352,000 hits
prerogative: 6,440,000 hits
I'm impressed with the ratio of folks that got it right. I would both spell and pronounce it wrong. But then again, it's not a word I use. It is a word typically used to justify intentionally doing something inconsiderate. I have no need for that word.
If proactive gets to be a word, why the hell not? Fuck-it we'll all be red-necks then.
. But then again, it's not a word I use. It is a word typically used to justify intentionally doing something inconsiderate. I have no need for that word.
Well, it's certainly your prerogative to use that word or not!
Ow!
James Brown moment. :) ;) :p
More like a tooth-pulled moment.
Is that what my friends are trying to say when I hear "Squirly"? I always thought it must be a cross between queer and swirly. Which most definitely fits with the kids they were describing.
(Most) Brits pronounce Squirrel "Skwi-rull" -almost rhymes with "pit bull".
Walt Kelly may have the last word on this from our side of the pond: a little cut&pastery:
"Most of these novelty songs don't very well stand the test of time, probably weren't all that great to begin with. But the ones that do, oh man are they great. My own favorite is "Lines Upon a Tranquil Brow," the first six of which are meditative, moody, fretful, all pensive suspended chords and spoken narration -- by Kelly himself:
Have you ever while pond'ring the ways of the morn,
Thought to save just a bit, just a drop in the horn;
To pour in the ev'ning or late afternoon
Or during the night when we're shining the moon?
Have you ever cried out while counting the snow
Or watching the tomtit warble hello....
And then there's a complete break in mood, a drunken bump-and-grind Dixieland band awakes and blatters:
Break out the cigars, this life is for squirrels [fermata]
We're off to the drugstore to whistle at girls?"
noo-klee-er, not noo-kyu-lar. That drives me crazy.
noo-klee-er, not noo-kyu-lar. That drives me crazy.
PLEASE tell the president. You know someone has had to have told him he is misprouncing it and he doesn't care
"I don't care what congress wants, or what the American people want. We WILL stay the course in Iraq, and keep pronouncing 'nuclear' incorrectly. I said so, because I'm the pres, I'm the decider!"
:mad:
I heard he pronounced it correctly in his "surge" speech.
Look: that's him, about one third of both the House and the Senate, and at least a fourth of the general population, and that fourth not necessarily in the lowest quartile, either.
Not that it's the right way to pronounce nuclear, but his bad pronunciation should not be thought of as unique.
Look: that's him, about one third of both the House and the Senate, and at least a fourth of the general population, and that fourth not necessarily in the lowest quartile, either.
Not that it's the right way to pronounce nuclear, but his bad pronunciation should not be thought of as unique.
Oh, I don't think of it as unique...I just expect the leader of the free world to know better. At the very least, take heed of the hundreds of people who have told him of his error over the years. My point? He doesn't give a flying rat's ass what anyone thinks. His egocentricity is alarming; NOOOO CUE LERRRRR is just a small example of that trait. :worried:
New-klee-ar. I thank you.
New-klee-ar. I thank you.
Nyew-clear. two syllables with the Nu as in Menu
(well maybe 2.5 syllables ;) )
I agree; 2.5 to 3, depending on one's hurry. :)
Definitely not 3.
And today's pet peeve is brought to you by the words
bought and brought
-they are not interchangeable, people!
Nuclear is 3 syllables. You can't have a half syllable, AFAIK.
The number of syllables in a word is usually equal to the number of real vowels in the word.
Yeeeees. OK then, to spell it out it has one short and one long syllable which one could describe as 1.5 if one were being silly. :rolleyes: And pronounciations vary with accent, particularly when those accents cross oceans.
What do you mean by real vowels? If you mean that two vowels together count as one, then I'd agree it's a good indicator. Which would give "nuclear" two syllables. And "clear" one....... Those in favor of "Squirrel" having one vowel should take note :lol:
noo-klee-er, not noo-kyu-lar. That drives me crazy.
I like it... right up there with proactive for the intelligence litmus test.
Yeeeees. OK then, to spell it out it has one short and one long syllable which one could describe as 1.5 if one were being silly. :rolleyes: And pronounciations vary with accent, particularly when those accents cross oceans.
What do you mean by real vowels? If you mean that two vowels together count as one, then I'd agree it's a good indicator. Which would give "nuclear" two syllables. And "clear" one....... Those in favor of "Squirrel" having one vowel should take note :lol:
The length of syllables is independent from the number of syllables.
Yes, pronunciations vary by accent, even by individual (cf.
this).
By real vowel I mean a vowel that is in the RP English phonemic inventory (what else would make sense since we can't hear each-other on the intarwebs?). Two vowels together count as one if they're a dipthong, tripthong, or denote vowel length. I can see why you might think the [ea] in "nuclear" is the dipthong /ea/ and thus a single vowel, but it isn't. The [ea] in "nuclear" isn't the same as the [ea] in
near, and
clear. In words like near and clear the [ea]
is the dipthong /ea/. However, in the case of "nuclear" the [ea] is two separate phonemes.
I've never heard the "clear" part of "nuclear" pronounced the same as the word "clear". So, if you have the means, post some samples of your pronunciation of some words with [ea] in similar environments. (Make sure to pronounce them as you would in conversation. Also, try to them in a sentence. Don't try to pronounce things slower/faster, extra clearly, or with special diction. That distorts what is produced and heard.)
Squirrel is really tricky. I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole.
I am not a phonologist, I just play one on TV.
Ah well, when you go making exceptions...... :lol:
No way, no how am I recording my voice saying anything, I sound like a transatlantic munchkin wearing a too-tight corset. But I say Nyew-clear. Or I used to. I tend to use the American "n" sound these days for words like news and tuna and nuclear. And my speech is slower, hence the 1.5 syllables joke. Half the time I can't remember how I say things any more. It's a tough life being an expat with a wandering diction! :violin:
But I do know what syllables are, and I do know that their length has nothing to do with it ,and I do know that I used to say nuclear with two syllables, and so did everyone I knew, and I still read it with two syllables. So it has two freaking syllables. :p
I do not play a phonologist on TV, but I have spoken with many accents, most of them British ;)
As for dipthongs -isn't that what strippers wear? :D
Is that overkill on the smileys?
Ah well, when you go making exceptions......
:lol:
:violin:
:p
;)
:D
Is that overkill on the smileys?
Rules wouldn't be rules without exceptions. :dunce:
Yes, altogether too many smileys.
The length of syllables is independent from the number of syllables.
Yes, pronunciations vary by accent, even by individual (cf. this).
By real vowel I mean a vowel that is in the RP English phonemic inventory (what else would make sense since we can't hear each-other on the intarwebs?). Two vowels together count as one if they're a dipthong, tripthong, or denote vowel length. I can see why you might think the [ea] in "nuclear" is the dipthong /ea/ and thus a single vowel, but it isn't. The [ea] in "nuclear" isn't the same as the [ea] in near, and clear. In words like near and clear the [ea] is the dipthong /ea/. However, in the case of "nuclear" the [ea] is two separate phonemes.
I've never heard the "clear" part of "nuclear" pronounced the same as the word "clear". So, if you have the means, post some samples of your pronunciation of some words with [ea] in similar environments. (Make sure to pronounce them as you would in conversation. Also, try to them in a sentence. Don't try to pronounce things slower/faster, extra clearly, or with special diction. That distorts what is produced and heard.)
Squirrel is really tricky. I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole.
I am not a phonologist, I just play one on TV.
Kinda' crushin' on you right now.:redface:
Would you two like a little privacy?
Would you two like a little privacy?
I have no clue what's going on. Must've been that bit about the ten-foot pole.
I have no clue what's going on. Must've been that bit about the ten-foot pole.
That or the amazing jawline ;)
just been reminded of:
septic and sceptic
"I'm a little septical about that" Oh really? It makes you all pus-filled?
Or inflamed and irritated.
I stumbled upon this particular thread through Google, and found that the subject is right up my alley. So much even, that I registered just because I wanted to contribute. Sad, I know.
Aside from many of the common irritations already mentioned, I feel obliged to add those that have been one of my major pet peeves: the 'would of', 'could of', and 'should of' combinations.
Someone already said in an earlier post that native English speaker don't have an excuse to mix words (I think it was in relation to you're/your), with which I wholeheartedly agree. But it frightens me that someone like me has a better grasp of the English language than people who have spoken it their entire lives.
I could go on for hours (or miles, measured in posts), but I'll end here. For now. ;)
Welcome to the Cellar, Mixie. :D
Not sad at all, quite a common occurrence, actually.
But it frightens me that someone like me has a better grasp of the English language than people who have spoken it their entire lives.
Non-speakers have to learn all the weird rules that people growing up with it don't need to know how to communicate. That's the object, don't forget, not to be an English expert, but to communicate.
English is a very difficult language, with all it rules, exceptions and quirks.
I'm glad I speak American instead.
btw.... squirrel ....one syllable.
Thanks for stepping in Mix. We had a user whose tag line was "Should of been a cow girl" and it drove me straight up the wall. For extra credit, she stubbornly refused to correct it after it was pointed out as wrong.
*waves* Hullo. :)
Well, I need to focus on British (RP, to be precise) for my study, and I must say that the most confusing bit of the language is to determine which parts are British and which are American. That's bloody difficult, I can tell you.
Yes, that makes it even worse; when people have a mistake pointed out to them (with flashing signs and visual aids) and refuse to correct it. I couldn't say whether they known damn well that they're wrong but are simply too stubborn to admit it, or just don't believe that they're wrong. I also can't say which one is worse. Lol.
In this thread I saw a few words that were foreign of origin, and thus easily mispronounced. Being all to familiar with this, I also come across the other side of it - Dutch people horribly mispronouncing English words. I have to bite off my tongue to prevent myself from saying something about it, because I don't want to look like a wise-ass. But it's sooo hard.. *whine*
I couldn't say whether they known damn well that they're wrong but are simply too stubborn to admit it, or just don't believe that they're wrong. I also can't say which one is worse. Lol.
There is a third possibility.... they don't care. Now can you decide which is worse? ;)
:eek3:
How can people NOT CARE?!
Hi Mixie.
Are you British, American, Dutch or Other?
If not Dutch, can you say gracht (?sp) properly? (canal) i.e. without taking someone's eye out with a spittle bullet? :lol:
In this thread I saw a few words that were foreign of origin, and thus easily mispronounced. Being all to familiar with this, I also come across the other side of it - Dutch people horribly mispronouncing English words. I have to bite off my tongue to prevent myself from saying something about it, because I don't want to look like a wise-ass. But it's sooo hard.. *whine*
Greetings from southern California and welcome to the Cellar, Mixie.
Do you have any entertaining examples of this?
Oddly enough, I don't really get angry about "could of" mis-writings -- a native-speaker sort of grammatical mistake brought on by not understanding the source of the "could've" contraction, which is inevitably going to sound like "could of," but which is readily set straight in elementary school English class.
This does not necessarily help the clods who spend that class asleep.
:eek3:
How can people NOT CARE?!
Easy, with the attitude that if you are correcting them, then you must know what word they were (mis)using. If you know what word they were using, then you know what they were saying and that's all that's necessary. Everything else is unimportant.
The other reason could be, if they were pronouncing a word the way their family and friends always do (local dialect) then they don't want to change and be a misfit.
Oh and just one more.....lazy, ignorant, self absorbed people that have to drop their pants every morning because the Sun emanates from their butt.;)
btw it's coulda, shoulda, woulda.
or
She ate all she could of her mother's homemade cherry pie.
Hey Monster, yeah I'm Dutch. But you won't hold that against me, now will you? ;)
And yes, I can say gracht perfectly correct. And Scheveningen, too. Lol. Don't ask me about my English pronunciation, though, because despite my hardest efforts you can still hear some (obvious?) traces of Dutch.
Examples... well, there's this one guy on the business news who consistently pronounces 'private acquity' as ack-JOO-itty. Or a colleague of his, who said "dan is deze stand as good as it gets, om het maar in goed Nederlands te zeggen" Which translates (rather literally) into "then this score is as good as it gets, to say it in proper Dutch". I wish I could say that he was kidding.
And there is a shocking number of Dutch people who think that if you pronounce eeh-mah-gee-NAY-shun, then it's logical that you also say eeh-mah-gee-NAY-tive. Sigh.
And what about the pronunciation of router? I've seen dozens of forums where people are divided into Camp Rooter and Camp Rowter and are battling each other to the death. I myself always use the latter, but I've seen so many arguments for and against that I have no clue anymore as to which is the 'correct'version. If there is one.
And what about the pronunciation of router? I've seen dozens of forums where people are divided into Camp Rooter and Camp Rowter and are battling each other to the death. I myself always use the latter, but I've seen so many arguments for and against that I have no clue anymore as to which is the 'correct'version. If there is one.
How about "data"?
I'm in the day-ta camp, but I will tolerate datta and dar-ta.
Btw I would never write "would of" etc, but my pronounciation of "would've" does come out sounding exactly like that (as suggested by UG)
Hey Monster, yeah I'm Dutch. But you won't hold that against me, now will you? ;)
And yes, I can say gracht perfectly correct. And Scheveningen, too. Lol. Don't ask me about my English pronunciation, though, because despite my hardest efforts you can still hear some (obvious?) traces of Dutch.
And what about the pronunciation of router? I've seen dozens of forums where people are divided into Camp Rooter and Camp Rowter and are battling each other to the death. I myself always use the latter, but I've seen so many arguments for and against that I have no clue anymore as to which is the 'correct'version. If there is one.
Most of the Dutch people I know have a better grip on English Grammar than the native speakers. And they're very nice people. So I certainly won't hold that against you, just so long as you let me come over and visit -I love the Netherlands. New Year in Amsterdam is one of my best memories (My cousin-in-law lives there).
Brits usually say "rooter" and Americans usually say "rowter".
Regards caring, I care sometimes, but other times it's just not worth the heartache! :lol:
How about "data"?
I'm in the day-ta camp, but I will tolerate datta and dar-ta.
)
When people say "datta" my skin crawls.
Also, people around here can't pronounce words like deal. It comes out sounding like dill.
What's the rill dill? Do you fill it?
Enunciate, people! ;)
"day-ta" sounds almost as bad as "nuc-yu-lar" to me
"day-ta" sounds almost as bad as "nuc-yu-lar" to me
I read somewhere that "dayta" is the preferred pronunciation, though dah-ta is OK, too. Dah-ta sounds like a pretentious hilljack way of saying it. :rolleyes:
Dah-ta is okay in an Aussie accent.....
If I heard a Brit saying it I'd probably spit out my tea.
When I'm in a funny mood I say day-der. It's especially stupid to say day-der-baize, so sometimes I do.
jinx always breaks my balls for saying Ah-fiss instead of AW-fuss. Office
Hmmm, when I'm in a funny mood I say "whadder" instead of water (when getting a round in from the water cooller). I feel really silly if a new member of staff comments on it.
When I was a kid growing up in Maine, I picked up a habit of saying "pellow" instead of "pillow" and "sireen" instead of "siren." I say them correctly now, but my little (35 year old) brother still says "pellow." It sounds really dumb.
jinx always breaks my balls for playing Ass-fist instead of Ass-fuck. Orifice
LJ always licks my balls for playing Ass-fist instead of Ass-fuck. Awful-ish
Hey Monster, yeah I'm Dutch. But you won't hold that against me, now will you? ;)
.
I am SO coming to visit you! ;)
Duchess of the Dirtbutton
The Duchess of Dirtbutton always fists Flint's Awful Orifice
i know........ i deserve Flint
How do you pronounce 'lawyer'? I always say 'liar' just for funsies. :D
Language is not static but constantly evolving. Except for Ebonics. That's just crap. (and I know how you feel about it, grant)
listen to the words at the very end.
[YOUTUBE]UoI9KmiH-dQ[/YOUTUBE]
[SIZE=5]SINEAD O'CONNOR TROY LYRICS
[/SIZE][SIZE=2](Sinaed O'Connor)
I'll remember it
And Dublin in a rainstorm
And sitting in the long grass in summer
Keeping warm
I'll remember it
Every restless night
We were so young then
We thought that everything
We could possibly do was right
Then we moved
Stolen from our very eyes
And I wondered where you went to
Tell me when did the light die
You will rise
You'll return
The phoenix from the flame
You will learn
You will rise
You'll return
Being what you are
There is no other Troy
For you to burn
And I never meant to hurt you
I swear I didn't mean
Those things I said
I never meant to do that to you
Next time I'll keep my hands to myself instead
Oh, does she love you
What do you want to do?
Does she need you like I do?
Do you love her?
Is she good for you?
Does she hold you like I do?
Do you want me?
Should I leave?
I know you're always telling me
That you love me
Just sometimes I wonder
If I should believe
Oh, I love you
God, I love you
I'd kill a dragon for you
I'll die
But I will rise
And I will return
The Phoenix from the flame
I have learned
I will rise
And you'll see me return
Being what I am
There is no other Troy
For me to burn
And you should've left the light on
You should've left the light on
Then I wouldn't have tried
And you'd never have known
And I wouldn't have pulled you tighter
No I wouldn't have pulled you close
I wouldn't have screamed
No I can't let you go
And the door wasn't closed
No I wouldn't have pulled you to me
No I wouldn't have kissed your face
You wouldn't have begged me to hold you
If we hadn't been there in the first place
Ah but I know you wanted me to be there oh oh
Every look that you threw told me so
But you should've left the light on
You should've left the light on
And the flames burned away
But you're still spitting fire
Make no difference what you say
You're still a liar
You're still a liar
You're still a lawyer
(yes it's really LAWYER, according to the official books !!) [/SIZE]
The Duchess of Dirtbutton always fists Flint's Awful Orifice
Oo,
kinky desu ka?An oral exam today. Please speak out loud the following two sentences.
"I have been many places."
"I have seen many places."
I believe UK speakers will hear only one difference, the consonant, while US speakers will hear two differences, the consonant and the "ee" of each verb. So who is mispronouncing "been"?
Good point! When I was young and working in the local farm market, a woman from India, speaking broken English, asked my friend "Where have you bean?" My friend was like "uh, well, er, I've been right here, I guess." She finally figured out to point her towards the beans. :) She assumed that the woman's accent was why she pronounced how we say been as bean, but couldn't for the world figure out why the lady cared where she had been.
An oral exam today. Please speak out loud the following two sentences.
"I have been many places."
"I have seen many places."
I believe UK speakers will hear only one difference, the consonant, while US speakers will hear two differences, the consonant and the "ee" of each verb. So who is mispronouncing "been"?
Also, for most U.S. speakers, I think, "been" has a short vowel and "seen" has a long vowel.
As I was driving through Alabama last week, there was a funny commercial for an artist who, as the voice talent declared, painted beautiful "murials" for churches and sanctuaries. That's right, mur-i-als. Now, I would forgive that usage if it were just a random rural Southerner speaking informally, but this was a woman reading ad copy that had to go through at least some review before it was broadcast. In the ad, a women asserted several times how beautiful were the artist's "murials" and how the same "murials" would make any room look bigger and how the "murials" could depict famous events from the bible etc. I could not help thinking of the artist struggling to paint those small cigars of the same pronunciation. "Wow! That cigar is so beautiful it would be a shame to smoke it. How long have you been painting those Muriels?"
Better than ugly muriels, though
Lol, sure you guys can come visit. But do remember to let me know beforehand, mkay? Then I can make sure to stock up on the stroopwafels and drop. :p
And I honestly had been wondering what on earth that second difference could have been in that 'oral exam' until I read Grant's post. Gah, now I feel silly. :dunce:
In the North of England, most people say 'bin' for been. "I've bin to the shops" but....not the whole of the North of England, cause some parts pronounce it "been/bean" but slightly shorter than 'a bean'. Some areas of England, the pronunciation veers towards "ben". Most people I know code-switch between 'bin' and 'been', depending on if they're being professional or 'posh', or trying to sound convincing, or on their best behaviour at a Job interview etc etc.
Also it depends on where the emphasis is in a sentence. If you are emphasising the 'been' rather than 'to the shop', then some people would extend that from 'bin' to 'been'.......or not....lot of dialectic variance, though the distinctions are starting to fade
That's right, mur-i-als.
That word gets a lot of people. It's a little like a tongue twister, contained within a single word.
I understand that one way for an American to tell an Australian from a New Zealander is to listen to how they pronounce "been." The Kiwi will rhyme it with "bin."
Of course, natives from those two countries have no trouble telling the accents apart.
To any foreigner, English is exceedingly difficult. Even the angels speak it with an accent.
- Mark Twain
To be honest, English isn't that difficult at all. [SIZE="1"]Unlike, say, German. *flinches*[/SIZE]
However, I must say that part of the difficulty is taken away by the large input we have. Music, television, loan words - there's a lot of English words and sentences we hear every day, so you slowly become accustomed to it.
What truly marks the foreigner speaking English is the vowels. Somebody raised in a language that is mainly pure vowels needs either long experience and an acute ear, or else detailed instruction, to deal with English's diphthongal glides. English has few pure vowels; they are most often either iotized or they are mainly one vowel with a faint tail of another, e.g. the English long "O" finishes up with a tiny "U" at its end, and conversely trying to get English speakers to deliver a pure "O" sound European-style can be quite the struggle -- they don't necessarily hear that U tail-off because we think long O is one sound.
I understand that one way for an American to tell an Australian from a New Zealander is to listen to how they pronounce "been." The Kiwi will rhyme it with "bin."
Of course, natives from those two countries have no trouble telling the accents apart.
To people not familiar with the accents, been is indeed a good one, but any e sound should do it. Ten pens for example is tin pins to a Kiwi.
Once you know an Aussie or a Kiwi (or especially both) you'll be baffled by people who mix them up.
Back to been - London accents shorten been to bin as well. One of my father's Dad-jokes was to say, "Where you bin?" when throwing something away. He still does it occasionally when I'm home (like only giving me half a cup of tea, my age doesn't seem fixed in his head sometimes).
I've been here 6 years and I can't tell the Americans from the Canadians round here (unless the Canucks rather helpfully add the "eh" at the end). I can spot a Texan or a Californian, but I've got no chance with a Michigandan and our nearest neighbors over the border. Apparently they can tell, though.
But that's OK, 'cause most of them can't tell if I'm Aussie or Brit. :lol:
Heh, not so much a mispronounced word as a word that doesn't actually exist, "irregardless". Technically speaking it's a double negative and yet is still often held as a properly recognized word, irregardless of it's connotation.
labret. It's LAY-brt, not la-BRAY.
labret. It's LAY-brt, not la-BRAY.
Really?! I had no idea. I've known a lot of pierced people, and never ever heard the correct pronunciation.
labret. It's LAY-brt, not la-BRAY.
But does it have a nice ass?
I assumed that was just Lab-ret.
I assumed that was just Lab-ret.
It would be to you and I, but
they say things all peculiar
1)
English has few pure vowels; they are most often either iotized or they are mainly one vowel with a faint tail of another, e.g. the English long "O" finishes up with a tiny "U" at its end . . .
(mutters) bone, phone, home. Huh. yeah.
Yo hablo espanol. Hmmm . . . cool.
2)Labret from Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: la·bret
Pronunciation: 'lA-br&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin labrum
: an ornament worn in a perforation of the lip
If you try to think some more, I'm sure they'll come
(on mispronouncing "bombs") The National Anthem does not have "the bums bursting in air".
The mental imagery here is hilarious. Where I come from, "bum" means "buttocks". I keep getting this image of a line of people mooning the night sky with bums in the air, then letting rip with a 21-bum salute.
Maybe a little off topic, but as a member of the younger generation and an avid online gamer, acronyms and their usage has gotten stupid.
lol = laughing out loud. No big deal, but then ppl start phoneticaly spelling an acronym as "lawl"!
The sheer stupidity and ignorance of that boggles my mind.
Phoneticaly spelling an acronym...
Laughing, And Writhing Lasciviously, surely.
Cloud, you thought that was fun? Try a look at long I... I[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]ee[/COLOR].
It would be to you and I, but . . .
. . .but surely :eek: you intended to say "to you and me," the pronouns being the objects of the preposition. Prepositions such as
to, from, between cause pronouns to take the objective case, not the subjective -- me, not I, them not they.
"Pooooor Professor Higgins...Night and day he slaves a-way, oh poooor Professor Higgins!"
In a word, pronouns
decline in English (and most other languages, including Esperanto, which has about as many moving parts as an anvil). You wouldn't say
to I, and you still wouldn't even with another pronoun in the works. The confusion seems to come from
you remaining unchanged.
. . .but surely :eek: you intended to say "to you and me,"
No, dear, I said what I intended to. If you look closely, you'll see the last half of the sentence isn't gramatically correct, either.
Sometimes it's fun to play with language. Well, if one has a sense of humour that is. :rolleyes:
Still, I'm sure you got a kick out of feeling all superior, so alls' well that end's well. :)
UG--what did you want me to look at, please? link d/n seem to work
Cloud, that was just a change of color, not a link. I wasn't finding the shrink-the-font trick to write the teensy eee noise.
Bad grammar, monster, is a solecism. Solecisms are bad.
Bad grammar, monster, is a solecism. Solecisms are bad.
That's just simply bullshit.
Did someone say bad grammar?
Cloud, that was just a change of color, not a link. I wasn't finding the shrink-the-font trick to write the teensy eee noise.
Bad grammar, monster, is a solecism. Solecisms are bad.
Hmmm.... Bad, huh?
Bad is subjective. Are we talking "the bad place" bad? Or more of the "technology is bad" bad? Or perhaps the "girl, you so bad" bad? Or maybe the Lieutentant Hauk "bad comedy" bad?
Please be more specific.
[LIST=1]
[*]Are the two bads the same type of bad?
[*]Which type(s) of bad?
[*]Which is which?
[*]Do you use solecism to mean grammatical mistake or a breach of good manners?
[*]If you mean mistake, do you mean that I made a mistake in deliberately ignoring grammatical correctness or do you mean that my incorrectness was not deliberate? Or do you believe that intent does not make a mistake and a deliberate act mutually exclusive?
[*]If you meant a breach of good manners, do you not believe that the same etiquette you perceive me to have transgressed would demand that you not draw attention to my embarrassment?
[*]Is your repetition of the word bad, bad?
[*]Is my repetition of the word bad, bad?
[*]Will I be going to Hell for my badness?
[*]Can I choose somewhere further away?
Hell is frozen over right now.
[/LIST]
In my opinion, inability to express oneself clearly is bad. But I am able to appreciate that not everyone shares my opinion. And that deliberate badness can be a good thing :D
/Can we take the discussion about my starting sentences with conjunctions as read?
//grant said it
/Can we take the discussion about my starting sentences with conjunctions as read?
Just say no to linguistic prescriptivism. Rejoice in the language as you speak it.
* Except in a job interview or other times that it counts, then for your own sake speak like your grammar school teacher taught.
Well said Grant. Language is a tool for expressing thoughts, nothing more. If your use of language adequately expresses your thoughts then really, what is the problem? We all have an innate understanding of grammar, it's hardwired into our brains.....trouble is the hardwired grammar doesn't always correspond to accepted grammatical rules and norms. Does that mean that the hardwired (original) grammar is wrong?
Picking holes in people's of use language is, in my opinion, unkind. Unless of course it is one's job, or responsibility so to do. It is also, again in my opinion, unwise. Doing so opens one up to have one's own use of language scrutinised and critiqued. Very few people are flaw free in this regard. This is partly because most people have been subjected to dialect in their upbringing, which brings with it certain 'irregularities' and also because 'correct' grammar is to a large extent an artificially imposed set of rules. In addition most languages have evolved from several origins and therefore contain different and sometimes contradictory grammatical and lexical rules. This is why in pretty much every language, there are common mistakes made by children as they learn to speak: their innate, inbuilt grammar does not correspond to the 'correct' grammar which they are learning to use.
speak like your grammar school teacher taught.
:eek: scary thought
they didnt teach no grammar when I were at school there was a hippy idea that you wood pick it up as you went along an not be put off writing if they didnt have no boring grammar lessons. But me mum learned me.
:smashfrea
*chuckles*
Oh just as a side note: none of what I said in my post corresponds with written language. There is no innate ability to write, they are entirely separate skills and written language is entirely artificial in nature.
Do you ever mispronounce words to purposely irritate your foreign friends? I do. One of my French friends hates it when Americans pronounce French words incorrectly. One day we were having a party and she was making crepes. I made sure to have a reason to say croissant, but I pronounced it "croy-SANT" just to see what she would do. She screamed,"CWASOOOO!!!" and then threw a crepe at me. Then I said, "Hey! Quit throwing creaps at me!" She did refrain from throwing the skillet at me.
Ask her how she pronounces the words "western" and "week-end" when speaking French, and if she pronounces them as "vestern" or "veek-end", you can throw unpronounceable things at her.
. . . Or maybe the Lieutentant Hauk "bad comedy" bad?
Please be more specific.
[LIST=1]
[*]Are the two bads the same type of bad?
[*]Which type(s) of bad?
[*]Which is which?
[*]Do you use solecism to mean grammatical mistake or a breach of good manners?
[*]If you mean mistake, do you mean that I made a mistake in deliberately ignoring grammatical correctness or do you mean that my incorrectness was not deliberate? Or do you believe that intent does not make a mistake and a deliberate act mutually exclusive?
[*]If you meant a breach of good manners, do you not believe that the same etiquette you perceive me to have transgressed would demand that you not draw attention to my embarrassment?
[*]Is your repetition of the word bad, bad?
[*]Is my repetition of the word bad, bad?
[*]Will I be going to Hell for my badness?
[*]Can I choose somewhere further away? Hell is frozen over right now.
[/LIST]
In my opinion, inability to express oneself clearly is bad. But I am able to appreciate that not everyone shares my opinion. And that deliberate badness can be a good thing :D
/Can we take the discussion about my starting sentences with conjunctions as read?
//grant said it
Hokay, I'm a good sport, and besides this is fun. Rather than bust the quote up into micro-blocks, let's keep it all in one big indigestible lump like unto an underdone suet pudding, nyah.
1. No.
2. I don't care which.
3. Ditto, I think.
4. Neither, but instead the dictionary or philosophical definition: that it's an error you ought to know better than to make. Look into the history of the Greek city of Solis, whose inhabitants' mushmouthed diction and abundant grammatical error the Athenians had some things to say about. Fortunately, ending a sentence a preposition with is possible in English. So are inverted constructions. Logging much training time with Master Yoda we have been.
5. Were you listening to yourself asking such a question? Your Honor, I move the fifth question be taken out and shot. Or shot at.
6. I didn't, so the rest is moot. So I suppose you can rest easy.
7. No.
8. No, but enough of it begins to sound like the opening bars of
Surfin' Bird. Oo Mow Mow Ba Ba Ba Oo Mow Mow... 'Cos ev'rybody knows that the Bird is the word...
9. What, to get away from me?
10. I suppose the Yukon and Northwest Territory are even more so.
And your last: Doubt it, as about the only way for a conjunctional usage to be correct in that circumstance would be as an elliptical construction, leaving off the entire sentence, clause, or word that was to be conjoined by the conjunction to the expressed, explicit sentence. That seems to me working implication until it collapses in the traces.
As a general thing, it is better to be able to pronounce "inarticulate" than to have it said of you that you couldn't.:elkgrin:
btw.... squirrel ....one syllable.
I thought of this thread watching children's tv last week. There was a reasonable cartoon called "
Jane and the Dragon" and despite it having a Canadian/ Kiwi heritage it has a variety of accents, most of which appear to be an attempt at British.
Therefore it really jarred, halfway through when I heard the word, "Squirl" to mean squirrel. At least I knew what they meant I suppose...
btw.... squirrel ....one syllable.
Only for in the US (and maybe Canada). Proper pronuniation elsewhere is SKWI-r*l. (First part sounds like "squid" without the d, and second sounds like "Errol" without the E.) This pronuniation is also used by some speakers in the USA. Both pronunciations are considered correct.
Only for in the US (and maybe Canada). [COLOR="Red"]Proper pronuniation [/COLOR]elsewhere is SKWI-r*l. (First part sounds like "squid" without the d, and second sounds like "Errol" without the E.) This pronuniation is also used by some speakers in the USA. Both pronunciations are considered correct.
Nay, nay....common pronunciation maybe, but proper pronunciation is one syllable.
BTW, it's pronunciation not pronuniation. :p
Nay, nay....common pronunciation maybe, but proper pronunciation [of "squirrel"] is one syllable.
Only in the USA (and maybe Canada) as I said before. If you tried saying "squurl" in other anglophone countries, some people may give you funny looks, some may not understand you at all, and a few may try to correct you. "Squurl" is not considered a correct pronunciation in most other anglophone countries.
Your particular pronciation arises because the "irr" has been reinterpreted as a different vowel (the same vowel in bird, world, earth etc) and the schwa before the final "l" has been elided. These processes often occur in natural languages, and it is also natural that more conservative pronunciations are preserved in other places. This does not mean either pronunciation is incorrect. It just means that different pronunciations are recommended as correct in different countries.
Through these processes and by other means, a few words do have unpredictably different pronunciations in US English and Commonwealth English (the two major strains). Squirrel is one of those words. A few other words with such differences are aluminium/aluminum (this one is also spelt differently), lieutenant, stirrup, thorough, toward. Aluminium/aluminum is a relatively recent neologism, recommended US pronunciation is more conservative in lieutenant and thorough and recommended Commonwealth pronunciation is more conservative in squirrel, stirrup and toward.
Such differences in pronunciation in different countries are simply something that one must live with. After all, a few of your own treasured correct pronunciations may be considered incorrect by others, just as others' correct pronunciations may be considered incorrect by you.
BTW, it's pronunciation not pronuniation. :p
Now, now. Surely you can tell a typo when you see one?
Only for in the US (and maybe Canada). Proper pronuniation elsewhere is SKWI-r*l. (First part sounds like "squid" without the d, and second sounds like "Errol" without the E.) This pronuniation is also used by some speakers in the USA. Both pronunciations are considered correct.
Didn't we already do this on page 12 -which is why SG was
reminded of this thread? :rolleyes:
But hey, let's do this American TV style and call it "another chance to discusss..." :lol:
/Damn now I'm annoyed, I know there's an upbeat euphemism for repeat -often used when showing the last episode in the previous series before they start a new one (or -all too often- the whole bloomin' previous series...), but I can't remember it. Aaargh. I knew I should watch more TV!
Now that's a cute one
Don't be fooled. What you can't see is that the damn thing's crapping in the open CD drive.
Now, now. Surely you can tell a typo when you see one?
Once is a typo. Multiples in the same paragraph is misspelling.:rolleyes:
How do you pronounce barett? You know--those things girls wear in their hair to keep it out of their eyes, etc. Is it Bar-Et or Brett? And, how do you spell it? Barrett? Barett? Barret? Baret? It's been driving me crazy for years.
Squirrel: I'm in your computer stealing your identity.
Squirrel: I'm in your computer trolling your Cellar.
Squirrel: I'm in your computer hacking your government.
oops, wrong thread.
Many thanks, o wise Clodfobble :)
Don't do it Brianna.....it's [COLOR="Plum"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]french.[/FONT][/COLOR]
;)
IGzaktlee!
over and over and over over the cube "walls" :sigh:
How do you pronounce barett? You know--those things girls wear in their hair to keep it out of their eyes, etc. Is it Bar-Et or Brett? And, how do you spell it? Barrett? Barett? Barret? Baret? It's been driving me crazy for years.
Hair clip or hair grip, depending on whether it's fancy or not. :)
Once is a typo. Multiples in the same paragraph is misspelling.:rolleyes:
I hope you're not indulging in spelling flames. :eyebrow:
Despite your assertions, they
were typos. I make repeatable typos fairly often because I type words using muscle memory and my typing is not the best. Some frequent typos of mine include "because" as "becuase" and "to the" as "tot he". "Pronunciation" is another word where I sometimes make the same typo, in this case omitting a "c". I usually catch my typos before I post but on this occasion these ones escaped into the ether.
I knew the correct pronunciations of "squirrel" because I had recently looked them up in a pronunciation dictionary (Longman's) as a part of a recent discussion on the pronunciation of "squirrel" and "stirrup" on a linguistics forum. These words were of interest because these are the only two words in English (or at least the only two words we could find at the time) where the vowel in "bit" with a following "r" in British English is replaced by the vowel in "earth" in American English. It is more usual for the vowel in "but" with a following "r" in British English to be merged with the vowel in "earth" in American English. (This is why "hurry" and "furry" rhyme for many Americans but not for British speakers.)
For the record, one syllable or two are both acceptable for "squirrel" according to Longman.
I hope you're not indulging in spelling flames. :eyebrow:
~snip
Nope, just yanking your chain because you're being dour. There's nothing wrong with being helpful or with being accurate, both are commendable.
That said, I got the impression you were working awfully hard and wanted to make sure you were having fun.... not forced into a stance where you had to work hard.
If I was right, lighten up, have fun, carry on.
If I was wrong, then my apologies and as you were. :D
I've always explained the phonemes in squirrel to be the result of the voiced open consonant R having an influence on the vowel sound preceding it. Among other results this makes fir a near rhyme with fur. I can feel my throat articulating more widely open with fur, but the difference between the two in most ordinary or rapid speech is pretty subtle.
How do you pronounce barett? You know--those things girls wear in their hair to keep it out of their eyes, etc. Is it Bar-Et or Brett? And, how do you spell it? Barrett? Barett? Barret? Baret? It's been driving me crazy for years.
Barrette is pronounced closer to Burrett.
But I guess they spell it differently in Ohio. Spelling is something that we take quite seriously here in Pennsylvania. Especially if you live in Conshohocken. ;)
I knew the correct pronunciations of "squirrel" because I had recently looked them up in a pronunciation dictionary (Longman's) as a part of a recent discussion on the pronunciation of "squirrel" and "stirrup" on a linguistics forum.
Am I following this correctly?
AE: Stur-rup
BE: Steer-up
(This is why "hurry" and "furry" rhyme for many Americans but not for British speakers.)
I'm not getting how these two words would be spoken differently by a British speaker.
hurry sounds like h-u-rry (open U) while furry sounds like fir-ry (a true er sound).
Am I following this correctly?
AE: Stur-rup
BE: Steer-up
It's reasonably close but IIRC the vowel is closer to the short vowel in "hit":
BE: Sti-rup
Note that the r is doubled in the spelling; doubled consonants often follow a short vowel. So BrE pronounces "stirrup" more or less as it is spelt, whereas AmE has a somewhat different pronunciation that appears to be based on the pronunciation of "stir". (Based on that, I guess one could also argue that the AmE pronunciation follows the spelling.)
I'm not getting how ["hurry" and "furry"] would be spoken differently by a British speaker.
"hurry" - just say "hut" without the "t" and then add a "ry" on the end ("hu-ry"). It's actually fairly easy to say.
I find the hurry-furry merger to be quite interesting from a linguistic point of view because it is one of the few vowel mergers that seems to create no homophones.
Hurry rhymes with curry
Furry rhymes with blurry
Of course this assumes the AE pronounces curry and blurry the same way BE does :)
mmmm......curry......hurry up with the curry.....
Hurry rhymes with curry
Furry rhymes with blurry
Of course this assumes the AE pronounces curry and blurry the same way BE does :)
All four of those words rhyme.
[QUOTE=xoxoxoBruce;323876]Nope, just yanking your chain because you're being dour. /QUOTE]
ooh, that's a good mispronounced word! "dour"-- like "do-er" not like flour.
All four of those words rhyme.
In British English, Furry and Blurry have pretty much the same vowel sounds as Early.
but Flurry is pronounced like Curry and Hurry.
Then, just when you thought you were getting it, there's the other Furry which does rhyme with Hurry. The Helston Furry -a dance.
Is all this getting anyone in a fury? :lol:
For the curious, Fury in British English rhymes with "
FuckthisforagameofskittlesI'moffdownthepubforabevv
y"
Perhaps respelling is the answer? ;)
In British English, Furry and Blurry have pretty much the same vowel sounds as Early.
but Flurry is pronounced like Curry and Hurry.
All
six of those words rhyme. :)
ooh, that's a good mispronounced word! "dour"-- like "do-er" not like flour.
That very much depends on what accent/dialect you speak and what area you come from.
Everyone in Britain said I said "emu" wrong in a way that made them laugh.
I saw saying "E-moo"
It was supposed to be "E-myoo"
yup. Like Duty. You guys say Dooty (or...Doody) I think. Whereas for Brits, it's Dyooty
All six of those words rhyme. :)
Only for speakers who pronounce the vowels in hurry and furry the same. We who distinguish them have no trouble doing so. It's nothing more than regional differences in pronunciation. To me, "awe" and "oar" sound the same but I know that's not true for some people.
Only for speakers who pronounce the vowels in hurry and furry the same. We who distinguish them have no trouble doing so. It's nothing more than regional differences in pronunciation. To me, "awe" and "oar" sound the same but I know that's not true for some people.
I bet you're a riot at parties!
I bet you're a riot at parties!
I give excellent backrubs. Enough said. ;)
"supposably" instead of supposedly
"irrevelant" instead of irrelevant
"calvary" instead of cavalry
"Grievous" is not spelt "grievious" but many people pronounce it this way.
And while we're at it, grieve does not take a direct object, i.e., you mourn a loss, not grieve it. Grieve doesn't properly take an object at all -- the subject/sufferer merely does it.
Mailmakers who write "halberk" for "hauberk" are similarly ill-founded.
No such thing as mailmaker.
grieve does not take a direct object, i.e., you mourn a loss, not grieve it. Grieve doesn't properly take an object at all -- the subject/sufferer merely does it.
True. But you can grieve over a loss.
And while we're at it, grieve does not take a direct object, i.e., you mourn a loss, not grieve it. Grieve doesn't properly take an object at all -- the subject/sufferer merely does it.
Maybe we need a Grammar thread. :D
True. But you can grieve over a loss.
As you see, not a direct object, but an indirect one.
I hold a similar view towards the phrase "belabor the point." I think "labor the point" a better phrase, despite being able to find the belabor usage cited approvingly by authorities. But laboring the point is to overdo it, while belaboring is battering -- physical or figurative -- and I should think any point so abused would rapidly be bent over and lose any resemblance to a point.
Any who simply must cite the above paragraph as an illustration of the verbal vice it condemns is at liberty to do so.:p
Bruce: mailmakers
do have an ontological existence. And they won't check with you on their jargon, the willful creatures.:p
I hear these mangled a lot:
"ax" rather than "ask"
"chimbley" rather than "chimney"
"sammich" rather than "sandwich"
"pitzer" instead of "pizza"
"prolly" instead of "probably"
"dunno" instead of "don't know"
"buttah" instead of "butter"
"heah" instead of "hear" or "here"
Yes, I live in New England. <_<
I hold a similar view towards the phrase "belabor the point." I think "labor the point" a better phrase, despite being able to find the belabor usage cited approvingly by authorities. But laboring the point is to overdo it, while belaboring is battering -- physical or figurative -- and I should think any point so abused would rapidly be bent over and lose any resemblance to a point.
Using belabor is showing extreme, to emphasize the point.
Bruce: mailmakers do have an ontological existence. And they won't check with you on their jargon, the willful creatures.:p
So are hobbits, fairies and trolls, but until mailmakers appears in at least
one of the OneLook's 931 dictionaries, it doesn't even qualify as slang.
Speaking about pronunciation...
A challenge...
Anyone care to create a single sentence containing all TEN pronunciations of the letter grouping "ough", possible in the English language. Just to clarify - I'm talking English-English here.
hmmm I found this,
Here
Is that cheating?
The combination ough can be pronounced in fourteen different ways:
1. awe: thought, bought, fought, brought, ought, sought, nought, wrought
2. uff: enough, rough, tough, slough, Clough, chough
3. ooh: through, slough
4. oh: though, although, dough, doughnut, broughm, Ough, furlough, Greenough, thorough
5. off: cough, trough
6. ow: bough, plough, sough
7. ou: drought, doughty, Stoughton
8. uh: Scarborough, borough, thorough (alt), thoroughbred, Macdonough, Poughkeepsie
9. up: hiccoughed
10. oth: trough (alt)
11. ock: lough, hough
12. oc[h] (aspirated): lough
13. ahf: Gough
14. og: Coughlin (also #5)
The following sentence contains them all:
Rough-coated(2), dough-faced(4), thoughtful(1) ploughman(6) John Gough(13) strode through(3) the streets of Loughborough(2+8); after falling into a slough(2) on Coughlin(14) road near the lough(12) (dry due to drought)(7), he coughed(5) and hiccoughed(9), then checked his horse's houghs(11)and washed up in a trough(10).
Quite possibly cheating... but very cunning linguist all the same :)
Cunning linguist... LOL! Nasty girl... you want cunning linguist!
Quite possibly cheating... but very cunning linguist all the same
That reminds me of that song from Not the Nine O'Clock News; the final ever show, sang by Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Stephenson (?) I think. Do you remember it SG? The chorus revolved around the phrase "Kinda lingers".....well, it was brave for 80's tv:P
Oh hey! and notice my User title:) Good luck for the next few weeks, I really hope you get sorted soon and get back down to the cellar.
Using belabor is showing extreme, to emphasize the point.
I disagree, for I reckon "belabor" to be the wrong verb entirely, and not to be "showing extreme," which phrase I find rather opaque.
So are hobbits, fairies and trolls, but until mailmakers appears in at least one of the OneLook's 931 dictionaries, it doesn't even qualify as slang.
A one-word compound for "someone who makes mail," and you have a problem, either with the coining or the existence? I don't think I follow your thinking. I suppose about the time one of these tells you "Catch!" and flings a thirty-pound riveted-link hauberk into your arms, you'd indeed acknowledge that such things exist, and quite independently of any solipsistic views on your part.
Bruce, final word here: you're running low on things to argue about. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;)
I'm saying if you create your one-word compound for "someone who makes mail," the general population doesn't know what the hell you're talking about. Like Klingon, if you know it you can talk to others that also know it, but it's not a smart way to communicate with normal people.
When hearing mail, how many people think of armor rather than postal or email? Damn few, I suspect.
You especially, since you're constantly pontificating the value of correct language skills, should know this.
I will never run low on things to argue about as long as I have you, cupcake.
Thinking of mail as armor is typical of the people I run with. For the wider circle of my acquaintance where it isn't, I soon clue them as to context.
Normal? Heh. Why do you think I jump all over certain Cellarites? They aren't normal. I'm not sure that's a permanent condition.
Thinking of mail as armor is typical of the people I run with.
Let me guess you're a knight of the round table? Yea? Am I right? Oh please say I am right.
Well, I've been jocularly called "King Arthur" by a Navy buddy who reckoned making one's own mailshirts to be an unusual hobby, let alone wearing them to get hit in. Along with a bascinet helmet with camail, plate arms and plate legs, and an armyng-cote. Somewhere in here, the mailshirt gets replaced by a globose breastplate. Not sure if I'd go for a segmented breastplate of the Churburg C13 type, or the all of a piece Churburg C14.
An eventual ambition is to become a KSCA.
The Society for Creative Anachronism
We're a pack of incurable romantics whose idea of a good weekend is suiting up in 40-65 lb of steel body armor, and going out and whacking each other over the knob with big rattan sticks. There's a fair bit of this to be found over on YouTube.
SCA Action on the Jersey IslesDo you have a destrier to UG?
Nah. No place to keep a destrier, nor a courser, nor any nag.
Ah, my favorite LARPing video ever:
[youtube]8ufaBKdY60w[/youtube]
My town, Des Moines. It's Duh Moyne, not Dez Moy-nez. Even CNN can't say it right.
Speaking of CNN, those stupid news people who pronounce Iraq as "E-rock", etc. I want to decapitate them.
Anyone who pronounces "genre" as "jenn-ree". Especially my dad.
URL pronounced as "earl". I've seen this happen before. Just because it CAN be pronounced as a word doesn't mean it should.
Suite, when said "suit".
Any form of baby/idiot talk. Includes, but certainly not limited to babytalk and ebonics.
A bit off topic, but people who deliberately spell "come" as c-u-m. You only make yourself look like a whore.
Also most TXT speak makes me want to rip someone's head off. They aren't using for anything, and I want to play soccer.
The word "like" is this gross mispronounciation of what we who speak English call a pause in between words, better known as a comma. I don't know if this one counts, but it sure puts me into a homicidal mood.
Speaking of CNN, those stupid news people who pronounce Iraq as "E-rock", etc. I want to decapitate them.
Out of interest, how do you think it should be pronounced?
Iraq = "Eye-Rack"
That's the way it's pronounced by everyone I personally know, including an Iraqi immigrant whom I served with in the US Army.
Any form of baby/idiot talk. Includes, but certainly not limited to babytalk and ebonics.
... snip ...
The word "like" is this gross mispronounciation of what we who speak English call a pause in between words, better known as a comma. I don't know if this one counts, but it sure puts me into a homicidal mood.
That's strange because when people call Ebonics or, less colloquially, African American Vernacular English idiot talk it throws me into a homicidal mood. Let me assure you that no matter what dialect of English you speak there's someone out there who thinks it's an undesirable way of speaking.
The pet-peeves I can stand, barely, but writing off an entire
language is completely off-base in my book.
I don't consider Ebonics to be a whole and freestanding language. It's like the difference between the English spoken in the British Isles, etc, and the English spoken in the US, but I can at least understand what the British are saying.
Adding the prefix/suffix/something-ix "-izz" [and various forms such as "izzle", "izzouse", etc, doesn't constitute a whole language. It's just a form of heavily butchered English that is also offered as a college course at certain colleges (a fact that makes me seriously ill).
Adding the prefix/suffix/something-ix "-izz" [and various forms such as "izzle", "izzouse", etc, doesn't constitute a whole language. It's just a form of heavily butchered English that is also offered as a college course at certain colleges (a fact that makes me seriously ill).
That's not Ebonics, that's SnoopDoggian, and I'd agree there. It is nonsense. Nobody really talks that way do they?
Ebonics allows things like dropped copula, double negation, not inflecting present-tense verbs for number and person. It's an entire language, mutually intelligible with most other English dialects.
Languages and dialects are the same thing to linguists. Some people draw the line between language and dialect by saying that a language has an army and a navy. That's the only difference.
I'll go with that. And yes, I know people who talk that way.
The things that just irks me are like "I/you/he/she/we/they be...", the "word" "wit", when used in place of "with", and other things like that. I unlike a lot of kids these days (I'm only 19, so I guess I'm still kind of a kid compared to a lot of people here.) actually appreciate the fact that I'm literate, and I frown upon the butchering of my native tongue, especially when I see everyone sending offf text messages "tat lo0k lyk dis yo!" over their bloody phones. I hate text messaging because of it. I don't mind if they take the time to spell out their words, however.
That's the way it's pronounced by everyone I personally know, including an Iraqi immigrant whom I served with in the US Army.
In the UK and Europe, and amongst the Iraqi population here, it's pronounced Ih Raq. Amongst the Iraqis, the a is softened so that it lies somewhere between a and o, and the r is usually rolled slightly.
Most of the world considers your pronunciation of Iraq to be at odds with theirs.
"Ih-Raq" is closer to what I say than "E-rock"
Not if "Raq" is pronounced "Rock".
When I have Iraqis telling me it's pronounced "rack" instead of "rock", I will believe them.
When I have Americans tell me it's pronounced "Murka", I put it down to regional dialects.
Someone is telling you "America" is pronounced "Murka"?? WTF??
It is pronounced "Murka", in some areas.
When I have Iraqis telling me it's pronounced "rack" instead of "rock", I will believe them.
Hmm. Not terribly likely to happen then, since immigrants to the US are likely to change their pronunciation for the sake of their sanity and we never hear Iraqis speaking on the TV as they are always dubbed by interpreters.
I'm with Dana, all y'all Murkins are wrong ;)
(not to be confused with
merkins)
Christiane Amanpour wants us to say eee-Rawn and eee-Rock
I'm so confused!
This should help with the I-rack and I-ran confusion.
[youtube]AGHty_S0TU0[/youtube]
This should help with the I-rack and I-ran confusion.
I'm not a comedy writer and even I know it's the iSuck for the vacuum, the iNuke for the microwave, and the iFrame for the picture frame (a good geeky joke). Why did they make the iProducts so cumbersomely named?
Still, pretty funny.
Since living in Tennessee for a while, I have gotten to see most of the regionalisms not as a source of stress, but as just a nice reminder that the country hasn't been completely[I] homogenized yet. I started to worry when people decided that the solution to good local radio being replaced with crap syndicated radio wasn't to start new local stations, but to import good radio from [I]outer space.
The one thing that puzzles and sometimes annoys me is that here in DC, we have a neighborhood called Judiciary Square. The metro announcers seem to always refer to it as "Joo-DISH-oo-wary Square." I'm not sure what it is that makes that one particular thing so hard to pronounce.
I'm a lifelong DC resident, and that's how I pronounce it, too.
Probably because of the Metro announcers.
I'm a lifelong DC resident, and that's how I pronounce it, too.
Probably because of the Metro announcers.
Where's the second U, then? :p It should be Joo-Dish- Ee-Ary.
Street names should be permanently exempt. Around here we have:
Manchaca = "MAN-shack"
Koenig = "KAY-nig"
Manor = "MAY-ner"
Street names should be permanently exempt. Around here we have:
Manchaca = "MAN-shack"
Koenig = "KAY-nig"
Manor = "MAY-ner"
Local towns/street names:
Saline = Sall Een
Milan = My Lan
Delhi = Dell Hi
Lyon = Lie On
Kuehnle = Keenly (not sure how else you would pronounce it but it still seems odd)
Street names...I wonder how they get butchered so badly...Maybe it reflects the education level of the people who propagate the pronunciation?
I can't imagine a well read person coming up with some of the pronunciations.
What about "Houston"...is it [House-ton] or [Hews-ton]? In Manhattan it's the former, EVERYWHERE else it's the latter. Who's right?
The 'oe' and 'ue' in Koenig and Kuehnle should be pronounced like the umlauted 'o' and 'u' in German right?
Street/ place names that can't be pronounced correctly by the way they are spelled are a way of spotting the tourists and giving the locals a laugh at their expense.
That is so true. I don't know many tourists that can correctly pronounce Des Moines.
That is so true. I don't know many tourists that can correctly pronounce Des Moines.
Iowa: Idiots out walking around. No offense intended. I'm from Missouri, it's genetic.
Of course in the UK, the sport is to confuse the tourists by occasionally having place names that are pronounced as they are written.
Tintwistle, Edinburgh, Slough, Worcester are not among them.
Mackinac Island is pronounced Mackinaw.
I got extra credit in 7th grade history because our teacher was talking about Edinburgh and I told him he was pronouncing it incorrectly. He said "Really? show me." (Not in a mean way, he was a sweetheart) So I pulled out the encyclopedia and showed him. He was amazed. Know how I knew? I had a big crush on the Bay City Rollers in 6th grade.
Around here we have Russia (rooshie) Versailles (ver-sales) and Houston (house-ton). But we're pretty hick-ified in these parts. :)
Mackinac Island is pronounced Mackinaw.
have we mentioned Michigan yet? Brits pronounce it MiTchigan. We did when we moved here. Boy, does that piss people off! (Brits: It's MiSHigan. Like Michelle)
Even the immigration guy at Newark was upset when we told him where we were headed. Newark! Where pronunciation butchery is a compulsory class for elementary school graduation.
For many place names, pronunciation is not at all obvious for various reasons and not everyone knows the necessary shibboleth.
If you are a local, the correct pronunciation of the place name is not obvious from the spelling, and correct pronunciation is really THAT important to you, then either put up the correct pronunciation on the signs that say WELCOME TO (insert place name here), or learn to put up with incorrect pronunciation from time to time.
I live in Melbourne (the big city in Oz, not the little place in Florida). We are as guilty of anyone of having a place name with a correct pronunciation that is not immediately obvious. It's MEL-b@n (@ = schwa), NOT MEL-borrn. There are three silent letters that are not pronounced, including the "r". I tend to fall in the put-up-with-it school, but if I had the means, motive and opportunity would consider a quick pronunciation addition to the big "Welcome to Melbourne" sign on the freeway from the airport. Preferably on April 1st, where it would be more likely to be dismissed as an April Fool's prank.
The time-honored pronunciation of my town's name in English, which is spelled Hueneme, is "Why-nee-me." It seems to be what happens when English-speaking sailors and farmers get hold of a Spanish transcription of a Chumash Indian word. When I'm speaking Spanish, it usually comes out "Whey-ney-mey." Haven't the foggiest which way might be more accurate.
have we mentioned Michigan yet? Brits pronounce it MiTchigan. We did when we moved here. Boy, does that piss people off! (Brits: It's MiSHigan. Like Michelle)
I've always thought it was mishigan anyway.
What about "Houston"...is it [House-ton] or [Hews-ton]? In Manhattan it's the former, EVERYWHERE else it's the latter. Who's right?
Hewston is correct. Trust me, I lived there for thirty-three years. I've also heard it pronounced
Hooston. :eyebrow:
Want to annoy a Cajun? Pronounce Thibideaux as
Thibby-dox. Should be
Teeb-ee-doe.
I've always thought it was mishigan anyway.
You are unusual. But you knew that... ;)
Pequea = pick-way in PA.
What is it elsewhere? :confused:
Don't know, could be peck-way.
